From back cover:HE WAS Bigger than a basketball... Smaller than a breadbox... And able to lead an adventuresome Earthling into more trouble than he ever dreamed possible!

Willis was a bouncer, a Martian roundhead who looked for all the world like a hairy medicine ball and who could - and often did - function as a complex recorder of what went on around him.

To Jim Marlowe, he was simply a friend; and wherever Jim and his pal Frank went, Willis went too. But they didn't go too far, since their forays were limited by strict rules.

Then one day Willis unwittingly tuned into a treacherous plot that threatened all the colonists on Mars... and that set Jim off on a terrifying adventure that could save - or destroy - them all!

When I unpacked my books in Austin I had two copies of this title. It's one of Heinlein's juveniles, copyrighted in '49 and this copy printed in '78. I have to admit that I don't remember the story, it's been awhile since I read through my Heinlein collection. As with his other juveniles, I'm sure it's on the saccharine side, but still an enjoyable light read.

Journal Entry 2 by BigrTex at Sci-Fi in JeepACV's BookBox, A Bookbox -- Controlled Releases on Friday, June 10, 2005

I hadn't decided if I was going to read this at all, there's so many contemporary books I have on TBR that I had been stalling about this one. But, I was not in the mood to be challenged, so I picked up this small (less than 200 pages) sci-fi as a way to pass the afternoon while listening to the cheesy hold music of my local telephone company. I read 30-40 pages before the telephone company deemed it appropriate to answer my call. I got off the phone, finished my business, and promptly stuck my nose back in this book.

All the "golly-gee"'s and "Jim boy"'s were a little corny, until I remembered this was written; 1) for a younger audience 2) in *****1949*****

Once I put this into perspective, I had a blast reading Red Planet! Now, I wasn't around in 1949, but I would try to picture what the average American Joe would have thought reading this when it was first published. Captain Kirk was years away, heck, the moon landing was decades away.

Would the Mars colony with its spoke-shaped habitats wtih complicated bubble airlock things have been cutting edge sci-fi? Did they really think girls were only good for keeping house and having babies? Would colonists still take the bus on Mars to go to school? Would 14-year-olds be licensed gun owners?

I think I have another Robert A. Heinlein book around here somewhere. I'll go dust it off and hope it's geared towards an adult audience.

This book was kind of fun. It has quite a few good reads left in it, so I'm making it available for now and I'll pass it on soon. Thanks for sending this home in my bookbox months ago!

While I didn't like it as much as other Heinlein books, it is still worth the read. If you are a "Stranger in a Strange Land" fan, you definately won't want to miss out on the information on Martian culture.

Thank you for sending it to me, I'll be passing it along soon.

Journal Entry 8 by candieb at PaperBackSwap.com in US Post, PaperBackSwap.com -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, July 18, 2006